It’s only a few weeks until the 2017 free agency period begins, and there’s a question that’s been asked often: Will the Cincinnati Bengals be active this year?
@Kat_Terrell what’s your sense of how the bengals view free agency this year?
— BigDay (@rsmith0906) February 9, 2017
For those looking for a big splash in 2017, prepare to be disappointed.
The Bengals have ample cap room, but they also have three big free agents of their own to re-sign (Andrew Whitworth, Kevin Zeitler and Dre Kirkpatrick). They’re also likely in line for one of their biggest draft classes in recent memory.
Compensatory picks haven’t been announced yet, but the Bengals could potentially get three or four picks in return for losing Marvin Jones, Mohamed Sanu, Andre Smith and Reggie Nelson in free agency last year.
The Bengals have already been preparing as if they’ll have a large draft class. Considering they’re a team that tends to keep all or most of it’s draft picks for at least the first season or two, they simply won’t have the room for a big free agent haul.
The Bengals prefer to draft and groom their players rather than go the free agency route.
Consider the 2016 roster: According to ESPN Stats and Information, as of Jan. 30, the Bengals had 43 drafted players on their roster and an additional 15 who had been signed as an undrafted free agent out of college (the most notable of those being Pro Bowl linebacker Vontaze Burfict).
Only nine players on the roster were signed as free agents, the most notable of those being linebacker Karlos Dansby and receiver Brandon LaFell.
LaFell was given an incentive-laden one-year deal with a cap hit of $2.4 million. He ended up hitting all of his incentives and finishing second among the Bengals receivers in receiving yards (862) and first in receiving touchdowns (6). LaFell played well enough that he will likely be a priority to re-sign in 2017.
Dansby also signed a similar one-year deal and figured heavily into the linebacker rotation.
Both were low-risk, high-ward options who contributed a significant amount of playing time.
So why are the Bengals so averse to free agency? They actually aren’t — they just prefer to stay out of the frenzy of the first-day signings and instead bolster their roster with more mid-tier free agents.
The Bengals feel free agency statistics don’t favor putting a significant investment into one player that hasn’t come up through their system. They feel that some players, particularly those who have come from struggling teams, have years of bad habits coached through other systems that are hard to break.
For a team like Cincinnati, which relies heavily on continuity with its coaching staff, that’s a big sticking point.
Bengals coach Marvin Lewis once made that point to ESPN in a 2016 interview.
“In the heat of the battle, they revert to what they know, and that’s the hard thing if they’re not trained through your system,’ he said. “When you play on bad teams you think you have to do something supernatural to make a play happen. No, just do your job. If you do your job and the other 10 guys do their job, you’re going to be OK.”
Don’t expect the Bengals to deviate from that philosophy this year. Though they might go after a mid-range free agent or two, it’s unlikely they’ll be making a big splash when free agency opens in March.
Agence France-Presse
53m ago
John Sibley / Reuters
Berlin – Midfield star Xabi Alonso is an injury concern for Bayern Munich ahead of its Champions League last 16 home leg against Arsenal after being hurt in Monday’s training session.
German daily Bild and broadcaster Sport1.de both reported the 35-year-old was hurt in a tackle by fellow Spain international Javi Martinez, with Bayern hosting the Gunners at the Allianz Arena on Wednesday.
In freezing weather, Alonso was left clutching his knee in clear discomfort.
Bayern said he was immediately taken to the dressing room as a precautionary measure but should be able to train again on Tuesday.
The Bavarian giants are already set to be without defender Jerome Boateng and winger Franck Ribery, who are still recovering from shoulder and thigh injuries respectively.
Arsenal is looking to break its last 16 jink having lost at this stage of the competition each of the last six seasons.
Bayern knocked Arsenal out of the Champions League in the last 16 in both 2012-13 and 2013-14.
The return leg will take place in London on March 7.
TEMPE, Ariz. — Former Arizona Cardinals receiver Michael Floyd didn’t expect to get cut after he was arrested on charges of driving under the influence and failure to obey a police officer in mid-December, he said Sunday in his first in-depth public comments about the incident and the subsequent fallout during an interview on ESPN Radio’s “Weekend Observations.”
Speaking with former Notre Dame teammate Mike Golic Jr. and Jon “Stugotz” Weiner, Floyd said he expected some sort of punishment to be coming from the Cardinals, but never thought the team would release him.
“It hurt actually,” Floyd said. “It sucked, but I knew something was going to happen, but I did not actually think I was going to get released at all.
“When I did, obviously because of the decision that I made, they made that decision. I went home from work and I felt bad about everything. I felt bad from the beginning, knowing I was in trouble, and I knew there was going to be some punishment. I just felt terrible.”
Floyd showed remorse throughout the interview, at one point saying he “100 percent” wished the incident didn’t happen so he could’ve stayed in Arizona for the remainder of the season instead of going to New England and winning the Super Bowl (he was a healthy scratch for the game).
“That feeling is great knowing that you can stay on one team for your whole career, so obviously it was heartbreaking the stuff that happened,” Floyd said. “If I could go back, definitely I would love to be where I was.”
Floyd was winding down the final year of his rookie contract when he was released.
“I made a dumb decision to drive and I thought I was OK and I fell asleep,” Floyd said. “I think the whole world knows what happened after that: a dumb decision one individual makes. You learn from it and move on.”
Floyd said coach Bruce Arians informed him of his release on Dec. 14, two days after his arrest. When Floyd was asked if he thought Arians agreed with the team cutting him, Floyd said Arians always liked him and that he didn’t think Arians felt he needed to be released.
“I don’t think there was ever a negative thing between me and him,” Floyd said. “I think I had a good place with him.”
Floyd added: “I have tremendous respect for Bruce — B.A. He’s been a great coach to me my whole time there. Always a straight-forward coach, which I really loved. He came up to me and told me what the decision was from upstairs. I took it with a grain of salt and moved on.”
A day after getting cut on Dec. 14, Floyd was claimed by the Patriots.
He was sitting at home when his agent called to inform him of New England’s move. Floyd said he then put on the Pharrell Williams song “Happy” on repeat and played it throughout his house that day. He took a red-eye flight from Phoenix to the Northeast. When he landed at 5:30 a.m. the next day, Floyd said the temperature was about 20 degrees.
Shortly after arriving Dec. 16 at Gillette Stadium in Foxboro, Massachusetts, Floyd attended his first meetings with the Patriots and met with coach Bill Belichick, who told Floyd his incident was in the past and he wanted Floyd and the team to move past it.
“It was all positive things once I got there,” he said. “The whole team took me in like I’ve been playing there since Week 1. The whole team is positive and encouraging people.”
Floyd was inactive for New England’s Week 15 games, but played in the Patriots’ Week 16 and Week 17 wins against the Jets and Dolphins, respectively. Floyd caught one pass for six yards against the Jets and three for 36 yards and a touchdown against the Dolphins. He followed that up with one catch for nine yards in an AFC divisional win against Houston, but was inactive for the AFC Championship Game and Super Bowl.
After the Patriots won Super Bowl LI against Atlanta, Floyd found himself caught in a social media upheaval after tweeting a screen shot of him kissing the Lombardi Trophy from the TV broadcast.
Floyed followed that tweet with a tweet two days later after realizing he was on the receiving end of animosity from “just negative random people … probably most Arizona people,” he said, who thought he didn’t deserve to win a Super Bowl after his December incident.
Damn I just realized ppl are really mad that I got a ring. I thought everyone would be happy for me. Oh well. I’m a champion!!
— MichaelFloyd (@MichaelMFloyd) February 7, 2017
“They just think that I’m not sorry for what I did or I disrespected Arizona,” Floyd said. “I made a mistake. I’m sorry for what I did and I’m moving forward, and I think some people don’t want me to be successful.
“I think that’s just life. There’s just people who don’t want people to succeed.”
